If I told you that Chariton's Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Depot was celebrating its 80th birthday in these waning days of December 2022, the response "What depot?" might follow logically.
That's because in recent years the simple structure, a classic 1930s-1940s masonry "moderne" in style, has been encased in metal siding and given a pitched roof that causes it to look something like a large machine shed parked along the tracks northwest of the C.B.&Q. Freight House.
Look more carefully, however, and you'll see the projecting office window trackside.
There was considerable rejoicing in Chariton when this was built --- the old depot, a grand affair incorporating a hotel on its upper floor and large restaurant on the lower that was built in 1872 --- was falling apart. The hotel rooms had been abandoned for years and there wasn't much need for a restaurant either.
Now, 80 years later, although the BN&SF tracks are as busy as ever and Amtrak does pass this way still, the trains don't stop at Chariton any more. So the old depot is part of a maintenance operation.
But if you were alive and kicking in Chariton back on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1942, you would have been invited to tour this new state of the art transportation milestone on its first official day of operation. Here's a report from The Leader of Dec. 29:
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All was in readiness today for open house to be held at the Burlington depot Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The temporary baggage and freight room and the old-type passenger car which served as a passenger waiting room have been taken away. Sand and gravel piles have been removed and all work is completed.
The public is invited to inspect this new modern freight and passenger station.
The new building was started in August and represents an expenditure of about $20,000. It was constructed by the Galesburg Construction Co. of Galesburg, Ill., under supervision of the engineering department of the Burlington.
The landmark it replaces was built in 1872, five years after the arrival of the Burlington in Chariton on July 1, 1867. Extension of the Burlington across Iowa was halted at Ottumwa in 1859 by the Civil War, but construction was resumed in the late fall of 1866 and Chariton was reached by the following year.
By the end of 1867 the line had been opened to Woodburn and by 1869 the Missouri river had been reached. the Chariton-Indianola branch was built in 1878-79 and the Chariton-Leon line was built in 1871-72.
The old building contained a hotel and restaurant which operated until recent years. The station was the social center of the community and many parties, weddings, etc., were held in its then grand surroundings.
The new building is finished in gray inside and contains an enlarged office, a large waiting room, modern restrooms, an enlarged baggage and express office. The canopy on the north will cover baggage and mail trucks which have been repainted for the opening. All light fixtures, etc., in the building are modern.
Construction was completed without moving the office with its electric cables and wires. An old-type passenger car was run onto a special siding for use as a passenger waiting room while the building was constructed.
Chariton civic organizations had requested for many years that a new station be built here to replace the antiquated structure of 1872 vintage. That the project had been approved was announced by Supt. Connett of Ottumwa at a dinner at the Lake View Country Club last summer.
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